


In un'altra Vita (In un'altra Volta)

by Malygos



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Good Guy Hazel, Identity Porn, Villian!Vanya, but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2020-10-27 19:44:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20765927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malygos/pseuds/Malygos
Summary: The Commission has learned to anticipate Five's attempts to flee the oncoming end, and the plan to return all seven of them to the past fails.Instead, Five changes the game by sending the unlikeliest of them back to right past wrongs and save them all.Vanya Hargeeves, in another life and another time, must be the one to bring their family together, keep Five in the present, Ben alive, and the Umbrella Academy united.So she defaults to what she knows would bring them all together. A mission and a foe.





	1. Third Time's the Charm

“Uh… guys?”

Five followed Klaus’ line of sight and froze.

_No… no…_

“You see that big Moon rock coming towards us?”

“That’s not good.” Luther murmured, joining them.

_No… it wasn’t supposed to be like this…_

“So this is it, huh? So much for…” Klaus said, but Five was focused on Allison clutching Vanya.

_Where did we go wrong? Where did **I **go wrong? _

“…Saving the world.” Klaus finished.

Five paced, both hands clutching his head.

_We failed, **I **failed!_

How much could have been changed if he just _paid attention? _He had done this for his family, but never even bothered to know them! Vanya, oh, Vanya… What did they do to her?

“If only Sir Reginald could see us now, huh?” Diego said.

Fucking Reginald Hargreeves…

“The Umbrella Academy.” Diego sardonically continued, “A total failure.”

_Failure…_

The world rumbled briefly as the first chunks hit the earth, killing millions in seconds.

_So much death…_

“At least we’re together at the end. As a family.” Luther said.

Five shook his head quietly.

What a fucking family it was. Luther was left with their dearest dad, his mind and priorities so fucking warped by the man.

Diego was a lone vigilante, too broken to fight injustice on the side of the law, too broken to not try and fulfil the one purpose he had been groomed for.

Allison was a mess of relationships with everyone, and a mute to boot even if you didn’t count her refusal to use her powers.

Klaus was a drug addict, turned to mind altering substances to deal with the fucked up reality he lived in, no clue of what’s dead and alive.

Five… he knew what he was. Too far gone. God, he could understand Klaus now about the voices. That’s all he heard for those years; his dead family. His pride had left them and himself broken. He never knew when to stop, when to just _take a step back and think_.

Ben was dead. He never wanted to fight, never wanted to kill, and he was forced into it by their father and their own_ stupid _peer pressure, and look where that got him. It only took him dying for them to realise just how far they pushed him.

And Vanya…

Five turned to look upon the woman he barely recognised.

She was a monument to all of their failures.

How could they not have just been better to her when they were younger? They could have just been _good_ and _cared_, and that would have prevented annihilation.

_When they were younger..._

“This doesn’t have to be the end.” Five said suddenly.

“What? What are you saying, Five?” Diego asked.

“I think I have a way outta here.” Five elaborated, swallowing. “But you gotta trust me on this.”

“-Yeah I don’t think so.”

“-No.”

Then they turned away.

Five barely held back the snarl.

_Moments before Armageddon, and this family still has no trust._

“Well, then, we might as well accept our fate, because in less than a minute, we’re gonna be vaporized.” He hissed.

“What’s your idea then?” Diego asked, turning.

“We use my ability to time travel.” Five answered. “But this time, I’ll take you with me.”

“You can do that?” Diego questioned, but not dismissive.

_Still has hope._

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it before.” Five answered honestly.

Diego seemed to take it in stride. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“You’re lookin’ at it. A fifty-eight year old man inside a child’s body, so there’s that.” Five scoffed.

Before any of them could answer, a single voice rang out.

“Not so fast, Number Five.”

There, a woman stood at the back of the hall.

“You think I’d just let you continue your little time travelling shenanigans?” She said, walking down the left-side isle.

“Who’s this, Five.” Luther murmured.

“I think… this is a new or different Handler, from the Temps Commission.”

“Kate always did have a soft spot for you, Number Five.” She continued her strut. “I’m not so inclined.”

Suddenly the doors burst open from the back of the room and more of the Commission's Agents piled in, combat ready. Far more than before, it seemed they had emptied a good part of the Commission for this.

“Go, go!” Luther shouted, racing for cover. “Change of plan. Five, you’re going alone.”

Bullets began flying. Allison dragged Vanya off the stage into relative cover as the stage was being riddled with bullets, while Klaus brought Ben back into the fight and Diego joined him.

_No, he couldn’t lose them again!_

“Get back here, we’re doing this together!” Five bellowed, keeping low as he took cover with Allison. The new Handler was focusing on him, squeezing out three rounds with her revolver.

“Point-twenty-two calibre Iver-Johnson Cadet revolver, Sirhan Sirhan’s own. I thought you’d appreciate the irony, Number Five!” She called out as a fourth shot hit the chair beside him.

Five tried to Jump, only for time to momentarily stutter and pain washed over him as he fell to his knees, coughing violently.

_What the fuck?!_

“No second chances this time, boy! You’re done running!” The fifth shot would have made contact if Allison never had the foresight to grab him and drag him out of view.

Luther suddenly charged the woman, determined to take her down. Shots from the sides came in, one made contact, but he was relentless. His arms and torso were far tolerant to punishment thanks to the serum.

His head, however, was not.

The sixth round in the revolver rang out as it struck him between his eyes.

Klaus screamed, Ben roared as the Monsters surged forward for the Handler’s position, only for time to freeze again as in the next second she was at the back of the hall, reloading.

Diego fought harder, but he was running out of knifes. Eventually he resorted to using an acquired rifle, same as Klaus.

Again Five tried to Jump, and again, Space resisted, bucking against him. He still had limited understanding of the Commission's technology relative to time and space, but if they had a way of blocking his powers…

“I… I can’t…”

Allison looked down at him, tears streaming.

_It wasn’t supposed to be like this…_

She rushed out to pick up a rifle as well, leaving him alone with Vanya.

Klaus took a burst of rounds to the shoulder and fell to their right, gritting his teeth in a show of incredible tolerance before getting back up and returning fire. His bloody right arm was limp, his left kept the rifle steady and supported on the tops of the chairs.

He didn’t want to do this, he didn’t want to leave them behind _again, _but his Spatial Jumps were out of the question, leaving Time Travel.

He’d only get one shot, and if he tried Jumping back to stop this attack, the Handler would likewise be ready to counter him.

He needed to go back to when they were thirteen.

He was just so _tired _of seeing his family die, again and again…

Focusing, he started building up the required energy.

Seeing the building glow, the Handler started calling for Agents to focus fire on them. However whenever one attempted to take a shot from the balconies around, Ben’s Monsters were ready to tear them in two.

Diego was next to hit the ground, lips bloody after taking down the two Agents who rushed him in a frenzied attempt to kill him. He snapped one’s neck and slit the others, but three shots struck him in the back.

Klaus was bordering hysterical, and Five’s gut dropped.

_He could probably see them. _

Then there were three, as Klaus took a round to the throat, and just like that Ben vanished.

Allison sobbed beside him, but continued to fire on any Agents trying to get close, to give him a chance to get free.

Then, his building power for the Jump through Time froze.

“You thought you could run again? Run, run, run. All you’ve done, Five.” The Handler said over the bullets, doing something on a brass watch on her right wrist he just noticed now.

_He couldn’t Jump._

_He couldn’t Jump and they had minutes at most left._

Allison silently screamed as her arm was hit, dropping her back against the stage front. The next round struck her head.

_They’d lost._

Five stared underneath the isles of seats, and saw fast approaching feet.

Then suddenly, the Phantom of the Opera started playing.

Energy was slashed above him, sending Agents flying in pieces.

The Handler was screaming.

Squinting through the blinding light, Five saw Vanya, standing tall and proud above him.

Bullets were being fired on her, but there now seemed to be a field around them that they couldn’t penetrate.

With each fast crescendo, she would slash the bow to send a wave of energy, cutting down another Agent.

Then without warning the next slash focused on him as the song picked up.

Instead of being drained or cut in half, Five was suddenly invigorated beyond belief and his charging power restarted exponentially.

Vanya continued to saw on the violin, keeping both Five and the field around them charged.

Even after all they had done, she still had tears to shed over them.

When she smiled down at him, lucid with eyes glowing with _power _and her own strength in that white suit, Five had never seen someone so beautiful before.

Another slash was let loose, this time to the sky.

Glancing up through shattered glass dome, Five saw the energy sail through the air, before splitting the oncoming moon fragment far above in the sky to impact elsewhere.

They’d been bought precious minutes, for he knew even now the walls of fire incinerating the land were closing in.

_How had they ever doubted how special she was?_

He didn’t want to lose her. He… Five wasn’t strong enough to go back, to do this all over again.

“I’m sorry.” Vanya whispered over a small break in the song.

_What did she have to apologise to him for?_

Five didn’t look old.

He felt his years, however. Watching young faces turn to dead faces and fade to old faces. Faces he once knew, flow into people he did not.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, Vanya! You know your destiny!”

Vanya snarled, and the next blast was aimed at the Handler.

The energy overpowered her attempt to abuse time by teleportation via freezing it, and the slash severed the Handler’s right arm at the elbow.

_Destiny… what was it really?_

Destiny was just the timeline dictated by the Temps Commission. A group of people playing God.

The song slowed, as the energy required for the Time Jump was finally reached.

“Go.” Vanya said. “I’m sorry. For all I’ve done.”

Five gazed around, surveying the hall through the blue-white tint of the field.

Luther, dead.

Diego, dead.

Klaus…

Ben, gone. Again.

Allison.

Five sat up, back against the chairs as his eyes grew watery upon beholding the crumbled corpse.

All he saw was failure, a burning wreck of an empty house with his siblings corpses scattered under rubble.

“So am I.” Five said hollowly.

Vanya shook her head.

Five gave her a small smile.

“I’m sorry I left you alone. I’m sorry for abandoning you.”

Vanya shook her head again.

“You don’t need to apologise.”

Five nodded. “I do, because I’m about to do it all again.”

His heart broke as she closed her eyes, and gave a third nod.

“I understand.”

She thought he was abandoning her again, and she was letting him go.

Five couldn’t help the smirk. The little, superior and aggravating smirk he always done when he knew something they didn’t.

Focusing, he forced the incoming energy to reverse. With that reverse of power from Vanya giving, Vanya instead took the gathered energy for the Jump.

Vanya’s white eyes widened as the glow overtook her. “_No!_”

Five laughed. It was a bright, watery laugh, but he never felt more _free, _knowing what was coming. At least he was saving one of his family.

“Be better than us, Vanya. Remember you’re extraordinary.”

The next flash of energy that forced Five to blink, Vanya’s form shifted to her younger self, playing on the same violin. God, she looked so frightened and alone. He wished he could send someone, _anyone _back with her to help. Klaus, Allison, any of their siblings. Fuck, even _Hazel_.

Five nearly choked on the next sentence.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I’m glad I got to hear you play one last time.”

“_Five!_” He heard Vanya scream, before the blinding flash took her back seventeen years, to 2002. Five was instantly winded, having felt like he had forced more than just the one person back – probably because Vanya was trying to fight him.

The Icarus Theatre is silent, the song is finished, and the concert was over. Curtains call, bow.

“What have you done?” The Handler snarled, right arm bleeding profusely while her revolver was clutched in a shaking left hand, her bloody brass watch dangling between fingers. The Agents in the hall hesitated to fire, waiting for her signal.

Five ignored her, choosing instead to take a seat on the stage, watching the broken Moon splinter further.

“You’re a fool, you know that? You had so much knowledge, so many years of experience and knew what our plans are, _who we are_, and you just threw it all away.”

Five laughed.

“I’m selfish like that.”

Five finally looked at the new Handler. It was strange, but he couldn’t help but pity her.

“I’m _tired._ I’ve lived my life, I’ve made my mistakes. Vanya, though?” Five whistled. “She’s always been the best of us.”

“Yes, a good idea.” The Handler snorted. “Send her back instead? She hates you all; I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t just kill you outright! Either way, it will happen. She’ll lose control, and the Apocalypse will begin anew. We’ll encourage her if we have to.”

Five shook his head. “But you don’t get it, do you? The same as us. People always seem to forget her compassion, her kindness.”

_Marshmallow sandwiches in a lit kitchen._

“She’s gonna do great.”

She glowed like the Moon. Sometimes, the broken can be mended. Wounds heal with time.

“You’ll die here.” The Handler said. “You’ll die, this timeline will be wiped from existence, and you will be _gone_.”

“It was a good run.” Five shrugged.

_Run boy, run. _

Five was done running.

This world was not meant for him.

The Commission have been trying to catch him.

And running, running had been a victory, but now he’d truly won.

“A waste. I’ll just kill her in the past and be done with it. You’ve won a pyrrhic victory, Five. That is all.”

Time stuttered, but the Handler was still there even after twisting the watch.

Oh, that panic was just precious.

Five wiggled glowing fingers – Vanya had been kind enough to leave some of her energy, and combined with his powers, he’d managed to lock down about fifty feet in all directions. No Jumping, no running, no cheating time.

“No second chances, Handler.” Five said, his predatory smile all teeth. “You still killed my family. We’re gonna burn together.”

The wild shot pieced his abdomen and Five fell back fell back against the stage, wheezing.

Eventually, he caught his breath and laughed.

_He did it._

The Apocalypse would be prevented.

He laughed and laughed as she tried to escape, and he laughed until the fire reached the Theatre.

His last thoughts were of family, and Vanya.

_Good luck._


	2. Set the Stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Totus mundus agit histrionem.

Life was music, and the body was an orchestra.

Vanya had never realised just how _loud _life was.

During the Icarus Theatre concert once she was attacked, it was as if was in a daze.

Everything was a blur of motion, action that she performed but did not know why. It was a voice of the voices, guiding her song.

It was only after she awoke and the fog cleared that she could think clearly.

She awoke just in time to hear Allison's heartbeat, the gentle drumming of _thumbthumbthumb _die suddenly. Her sister passed on, and Vanya _heard _her die.

She could hear _everything_.

She let The White Violin guide her, flowing into an old familiar song, the first she learned despite gentle encouragement to the contrary given its difficult nature for a novice.

Just her and Five.

Her, and Five.

That's what the Academy had felt like at times. The Academy was an orphanage for the special, and she was ordinary. She did not know why Five picked her to discuss his theories with, or why he sometimes sat in her room writing away while she practiced.

When she first realised these occurrences were not one-offs, she looked into physics herself. He always brightened when she followed his train of thought, or proposed a smart question or provided an intelligent response. She liked to think he enjoyed her company as much as she was desperate for his.

Just her and Five.

She could hear his heartbeat, she could _feel _the energy around him, preparing for a Jump. Not a simple one, but one to cross the boundaries of time and space itself.

He was leaving her, but she understood. She was beyond saving, and from the sky above, as was this timeline.

She gave him the power to leave, hoping he would forgive the younger, clueless Vanya. Hoping he would show her the same warmth he had shown her.

Then, he turned it on her.

She didn't know enough about her powers, she didn't know how to reverse what he had done.

She screamed his name into the vortex as the neon flash of light blinded her before reality realigned and she was slammed into a younger consciousness, late into the Fourth of March, 2002.

* * *

The first week back, Vanya had to learn how to block out sound before she could even think of controlling them, once she recovered from the pins and needles and cotton-filled head that was the aftermath of time travel.

All she could hear was _noise_. Heartbeats, blood pumping, car engines and pistons firing, breathing, steps…

The forest had spoiled her, especially with someone else present to ground herself. She had been coming off her pills, her powers were still fresh and new, but now after her mental break, for what else could she call it… She heard it all, and it was driving her already fragile recovering psyche insane.

But she could never block out the voices.

The pain of a young, confused girl. Unsure why she was being locked away under the bowels of her home, with nothing but the ringing sound of silence.

The simmering resentment of a teenager, miserable at an Academy meant for training what she did not have.

The apathy of a woman grown, of a mundane life and muted emotions.

The burning, passionate and incandescent rage and _fury_ of The White Violin. Born of frustration and fear, of a woman overwhelmed with feelings she had not felt in memory. It was a fog she sunk in and gave control to, who shielded her from pain and suffering.

She didn't know what else to call… _her_. She didn't know if The White Violin was a result of coming off the pills that dulled her for so long, the childhood trauma, or the crock-pot mix of manipulations, lies, pain and stress of the days leading to the Apocalypse. Or a combination of all three.

Vanya knew she was broken, and she was so angry that Five passed this torch to her.

He was so much better than her. Not like the others. He was good and kind and it should have been her who was erased.

But he trusted her to do this, so she would.

She was never the planner of the seven however. She was never involved to plan.

Her violin gathered dust in her room, and Vanya slipped into the haze of drowning out sound save what she focused on for a week while she attempted to readjust for the second time to a new reality.

Familiar faces with young eyes.

Five came into her room that evening to discuss his new (or old) theory, and Vanya just stared at him.

He looked so… _happy_.

God, she couldn't remember seeing that when he returned.

Was this how he felt, after seeing all of them… all…

They were dead. They were gone.

Her siblings that she knew for years and years, they were gone and they were not coming back and all that was left was their ghosts and _oh god, _how did Klaus _do this _with Ben?! How had Five managed this?!

Vanya watched a gentle spiderweb crack forming in the corner of the room as her heart pounded as her head grew lighter.

She needed to get out.

* * *

Five worried his lip, pondering the latest puzzle to grab his attention.

Vanya had been acting… strangely.

The mousy girl they had all thought they knew had just disappeared for a week. In her place was a caricature, a Vanya going through the motions. She was occasionally unable to be found, much to the ire of Father who never hesitated in verbally lashing her whenever she turned up.

Vanya seemed… numb.

What was he saying? Of course she was numb. She always was, given her medication. She had a personality, but it was a gentle, hidden flame. He liked to be with Vanya. She was warmth, a promise of home after every stressful mission or painful training session.

He had found her at odd times wandering the halls, sometimes at night she'd just… disappear. Sometimes to the roof, sometimes to the grounds. She didn't seem to like being in the house.

Then, she walked out on him.

_Vanya _walked out on _him_.

Five really didn't know what to feel after that. Surprise? Anger?

Instead, he felt a strange ache instead. Five followed after processing what just happened. He found her stargazing on the roof, again.

Hence her acting strangely.

"Vanya, are you okay?" Five said cautiously, approaching slowly.

He didn't want to startle her off the ledge.

But, she barely reacted. Like she knew he was there. Or, didn't.

"Vanya?"

When she finally turned, she looked at him like a stranger.

"Five? No…"

"Yes. Five." He confirmed, truly worried now.

Vanya turned away to look up at the moon.

Five swallowed, wrongfooted.

"Vanya, have you… have you taken too many of your pills?"

She didn't answer.

Five froze, and his heart-rate spiked.

_Need to get Grace._

Vanya suddenly winced. "Don't."

"Don't, what?"

"Don't leave."

Five hesitated, before carefully sitting beside her.

"Never."

Vanya _looked _at him. "Your powers… how did-… how do you train?"

Five was somewhat baffled now, but there was a niggling thought that felt like if he pulled, the answer would unravel.

"My powers? Well… practice. Lots of it."

_Jumping, endless Jumping until he was vomiting and coughing his guts up, head spinning and the room spinning._

Was she upset at being ordinary? Did Diego say something?

Vanya gazed skyward again.

"Why are you up here, Vanya?"

"It's quiet." She murmured.

The wind picked up.

"I don't know what to do, Five." She finally broke the silence. "I don't know what I should do."

"Is something wrong, Vanya?"

"Would you ever get bored of the Academy, Five?"

Five was rarely ever thrown for a loop, but these random subject changes were doing it to him.

"I… maybe? I dunno, really. The fights have gotten pretty boring, nothing's really challenging here. I mean…"

He hesitated.

_He'd mentioned it a few times, but…_

"Time travel."

Five's head shot up, eyes wide.

"You want to try time travelling."

Five nodded.

Vanya hummed.

"Do you think you've practiced enough?"

Five's gaze narrowed.

_She knew._

"Only a few minutes here and there." Five shrugged nonchalantly.

In truth, he was planning to say to Father in a few days or so, at the Friday breakfast. Just in time for the weekend.

"Do you ever think about… about why Dad trained you?"

Five gave it some thought.

Well. It was something he _had _been thinking about for a while, now.

Father always said there were some gifted with powers beyond the ordinary, but what evidence for that did they really have, outwith the Academy? God knows what happened to the other thirty six children.

Were they truly needed? Bank robbers and hostage situations could be dealt with at a local level, a bunch of super-powered teenagers weren't really needed. They weren't the future; they were a mere blip, a curiosity to the pages of history.

"We're superheroes without supervillains." Five summarised sardonically.

In all honesty, he found it hard to be too invested in this gig. While 'The Umbrella Academy' was Reginald Hargeeves' (twisted) school for exceptional children, they were really just an extraordinary in-training strike force managed by a Billionaire.

He truly did wonder how Father got away with it.

"Superheroes without supervillians." He heard Vanya murmur.

Now he realised how insensitive that might've been. Here was Vanya, clearly looking for a purpose and without powers, and he was bemoaning the lack of a proper fight.

"Look, Vanya. You can be whatever you want, okay? Artist, musician, saleswoman, whatever." Five said firmly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll, um… We'll still love you, whatever you do."

Vanya's breath hitched, and she looked up at him with such _desperation _it took him back.

"Really?"

Five nodded.

"You'll… you'll never abandon us?"

Five nodded again.

"You'll… still love me, right? Whatever I do?"

Five focused on smiling instead of smirking through a smart comment. Now wasn't the time for wisecracks.

"Always."

Vanya slowly wandered off again, Five presumed back to bed. He Jumped to his room shortly after.

* * *

Vanya's grip on reality was a deck of cards.

The foundations had always been paper-thin, but that groundwork had been laid by Reginald Hargreeves. It was a base shaped and sculpted with great care – not out of compassion for her, but to perfect the next sequence.

Vanya was told she had no powers, something often and loudly reiterated by either siblings or her Dad and Pogo and Mum who often dodged the subject or danced around it.

One group who caused unintentional harm though, while the purposely perpetuated the lie out of malice.

Perhaps that was not fair to Grace. What could she truly do, against her programming? Pogo, well… he was just a coward. Perhaps that was unfair of her, maybe he was trapped in a figurative cage, limited in choices. Her room was a literal one, however.

'_Do you remember what that was like?'_

Vanya shook her head, ignored the mirror in the hallway and walked on. Ignored the hallucination of a scared little girl.

Dad was up-front with his distain. Pogo maintained the façade with a smile. She saw the pity now.

Layer by layer, the deck was built. Pills are a daily must. Never, _ever _forget.

_Or you'll destroy the world._

Her siblings were better than useless Number Seven.

"_To go on a mission Vanya, you have to have a power."_

Then Leonard came along, and it all came crashing down.

_Why, Five, why…_

She wasn't fit for this. It shouldn't have been her. Any of them but her.

Reality was falling, up was down, and her sanity was a thread being slowly pulled. Everything was happening all at once, all too fast.

The others were going about their daily routine, Pogo looked at Vanya was sad eyes that she _hated _because he was a _liar_, and Reginald regarded her with disinterest. She could see the tension behind those cold, dead eyes now, however.

_Does little Vanya know? _She imagined him thinking._ Does she know how special she is? No, she wouldn't! Stupid little __**drugged foolish girl!**_

As long as she could remember, Vanya was numb beyond the simple loneliness and despair at being the odd one out, being the Number Seven. 'Anxiety Medication' is the lie she was spoon-fed. For all those years, she never missed a day. Never.

Until Leonard.

She had been feeling good. No, she had been feeling _great_.

Everything was dialled to a hundred, but she kept her head above the water. She laughed, she cried, she felt the anxiety, the stress from going cold turkey, but there was also that overwhelming hope and building confidence.

The confidence to stand up to Allison when she went digging into the one good thing that had happened to her.

Then, when she finally had a chance for greatness of her own without any powers, the Concert, she came to invite them.

But they were busy. With a family matter, and she wasn't invited.

And then, in her rage, she bent lamp posts and nature to her will, from pure anger. She knew rage she couldn't control, that she'd never experienced before.

She didn't know how to cope. The mood swings, the fear and the hatred…

Fear for losing what she only just gained led her to taking Allison's power from her.

Hatred for being lied to by the one person she trusted above the others led her to killing Leonard when he tried to deny her access to her family.

Then Luther put her back in the anechoic chamber, and she was _left _there. Again.

_Grey walls, day after day after day, no sound no powers no echo nothing but her and now the voices._

She let it overwhelm her.

_She couldn't breathe._

She lost control.

_She embraced._

The only sound was the violin, all she cared for was finishing her song. The show must go on.

And Five sent _her _back.

Seeing them all again, alive and _happy_…

It was all getting too much, and she was losing control.

Keep breathing.

She needed something quiet, familiar. She wanted the forest.

'_**Donuts, dear. You've not eaten, you need to eat.'**_

Vanya tensed. The White Violin was dangerous, but not to her. Her only concern was Vanya and her livelihood.

It was a decent idea.

She grabbed her coat from the rack, walked out the door and slipped through the groaning gate.

'_Would it have been that easy?'_

She wasn't often prone to self-pity, but she never really realised just how closed off she had been when she was younger. Rarely leaving the house when she just wanted to.

Vanya breathed.

She quickened her pace across the cobbles, past the few stores on the same path, closed given the time of night. Only The Chesters was open, and from the sounds of it, it was karaoke night.

Then her arm was grabbed.

"Where you goin', girl?"

She smelt putrid drunk breath, and gagged. She had been closing off again, and not noticed the heartbeat in the empty street.

"I said," The man belched. "Where you goin' at this time o' night?"

"Please let me go." She murmured, praying the drunk would lose interest and wander back in for another drink.

"Naw, why would'a go do that?"

He leaned closer, and his heart was racing.

"Say… what age are ya? Where's your maw and da'?"

'_**Let me.'**_

Vanya swallowed, ignoring the crooning voice at the back of her mind. All she could hear was blood rushing and his heart.

"Let me go."

"Nope. C'mon."

He dragged her and Vanya tried to fight it but she wasn't a grown woman anymore and all she could hear was his heart thundering the sound was so loud why was it so loud why won't it stop makeitstop_makeitstop__**MAKEITSTOP.**_

Then, it did.

Vanya mouth opened in a silent scream as his grip slackened, and the man keeled over, gasping in the throes of a heart attack.

Blood pumping, pistons firing, and she _made it stop._

'_**Oh well done dearie, well done!'**_

Eyes wide, Vanya ran as White's laughter echoed in her mind.

* * *

She entered Griddy's hoping for a calm atmosphere and familiarity to relax her as she tried to comprehend just how out of her depth she was with her powers.

Familiarity, yes. Calm? Not even close.

"You!" Vanya exclaimed.

The bearded man's eyes widened. "You!"

It was a tense stand-off as she regarded the man who shot up their house and backhanded her.

"Uh… Vanya, yeah?"

Vanya nodded, ready to lash out with her powers in a moment's notice.

"Look, um, I… I'm Hazel, okay?" Hazel raised his hands, displaying no weapons and slowly backed towards the back-room he just came out of. "Are you- do you know-"

"The future. The Apocalypse."

Hazel sighed. "Listen, I'm done with that shit, okay? I thought Agnes and I got a clean break. God or somethin', I dunno. I don't want any trouble."

Vanya had no clue what she could do to fix things, but with someone else from that fucked-up future, maybe she had a chance.

"We need to talk."

* * *

_Agnes is a sweet woman, _Vanya thought absentmindedly as she sipped her coffee.

"Damn… I'm sorry about your family, and Five." Hazel said after she explained just how she ended up in this sorry mess.

"Yeah, no clue what he was thinking, being honest. I'm a terrible planner, I don't know what I'm doing or _what _to do…"

"If Five saw something in you, you'll manage." Hazel told her confidently, pausing to take a bite of a jam doughnut.

"You knew him?" Vanya asked, surprised.

Hazel rubbed the back of his head, chewing. "He was… kind of a legend. I mean, before your whole Apocalypse thing, I came to help, actually."

Vanya hummed. "How likely is this, Temps…"

"Temps Commission. Temporal Commisson. Whatever you want to call it."

"Temps Commission," Vanya continued, "Likely to try and kill me."

"Kill you? Unlikely. You're the ace in the hole for causing it. From the sounds of things, if they aren't here now, then you're fine. Five… he probably killed them before the world ended. One's back at HQ will take couple years to recoup their losses. Well, as long is takes a time travelling organisation to do so."

Vanya blinked away tears at the reminder that Five was gone, _gone gone gone-_

"Hey." Hazel gently grabbed her shoulder. "The Commission… their whole job is manipulating people into killing and destruction, okay? They've done it all throughout history. You had no way to know. Five, he was always a bit of a loner, even among us. Not too surprised he didn't keep you in the loop."

"They… the Temps Commission, they think I'm evil, right? That woman… said something about my destiny."

Hazel shrugged. "Pragmatists, the lot of them. If they think they know what's best for the timeline, why on earth would anyone think differently? You're to end the world, that's the result they're gearing for."

Vanya felt the hint of a plan forming in her mind.

It was a stupid, completely of the rails, but…

"_Superheroes without supervillians."_

"What if… I played along?"

Hazel froze.

"You… you want to start the Apocalypse?"

Vanya quickly shook her head.

"No, no! But… they think I… I hate them. So…"

Vanya outlined her plan to Hazel.

"This… this is ballsy." He said, gobsmacked.

"The Umbrella Academy fell apart in the end. Five disappeared, Ben died, and everyone fell apart. Something needs to be done to keep them together." Vanya said.

"I've… I've tried to think of anything, _anything _better. Nothing. Do I tell them the truth, Five sent me back in time from the future to prevent the apocalypse?" She laughed bitterly. "I can see how that goes down. Poor Vanya, so bored of being ordinary she resorts to desperate fantasy. Not tell the truth and try to… what? Be a better sister? Me being involved in their lives won't do anything against _his _involvement."

_Fucking Reginald Hargreeves._

Hazel thought it over and hesitantly nodded.

"Commission would probably think you're learning your powers, first." Hazel acknowledged reluctantly. "They'd be content to watch for a while. Probably think you're having some fun before wiping everything out, maybe figurin' some way for you to survive it. Might even approach you, offer a job. Hell, this is all assuming they'd _know, _which there's no guarantee, being honest. Much as I liked to moan about them not giving us decent intel, Management often didn't even have it themselves."

Hazel leaned over, serious.

"Thing is, they're going to fight you. If I'm remembering things right from your book, you've got a kid with superstrength, A knifethrower who can't miss, a girl who can mind control, Five himself and the last one. How are you doing to deal with the Lovecraftian mess that boy unleashes? Better yet, how are _you _gonna fight _them_?"

Hazel paused.

"Can you even fight them?"

Vanya knew he wasn't referring to her powers. If she truly lost control and had enough time, she could end the world. He was talking about having to, to fight them. They'd probably be trying to _kill _her.

'_**Let me, dearie. Let meee.'**_

Vanya flinched, and nearly fell off the stool.

"No!"

Hazel backed off from her, confused.

"Uh…"

Vanya shook her head, mumbling.

"You nearly killed them, last time. You were going to kill them."

'_**I drained them dear. You can't punch if you have no strength. You can't throw if you can't lift your arms. You can't summon spirits if you can't concentrate. You can't teleport if your body can't move.'**_

Vanya squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out half-formed memories of family suspended in the air as their life was stolen from them.

"You were going too far!"

"Vanya, you okay?" Hazel asked cautiously.

Vanya jerked back, eyes wide.

Hazel slowly, carefully, placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Vanya. Look at me."

Vanya paused.

Was she okay?

"No, I'm not." She sobbed.

Hazel brought her into a hug and she stiffened, remembering arms around her choking her out she couldn't breathe-

Hazel hushed her. He didn't tighten his grip. "You're fine, you're fine…"

Vanya breathed and relaxed. Eventually, her tears ran dry.

"You gonna tell me what just happened? Because that sure didn't look like nothing." Hazel asked her after eventually releasing her, handing her a napkin to wipe her face.

Vanya swallowed.

"I… I don't know what- it's a voice. Voices. In my head."

Hazel didn't say anything and waited for her to gather her thoughts.

"She's… when I lose control, or, everything gets too much, I— she takes over."

"Forcefully?"

Vanya shook her head.

"She protects me. It just…" Vanya winced. "Everything is so _loud_."

Hazel hummed.

"Reminds me of Tiermann, 36'."

Vanya looked up at him, confused.

Hazel grew uncomfortable. "I… one of our targets. Guy had DID. Identity Disorder or something, don't ask me what the first is for. Tiermann was a scientist in Germany. If he lived, the Nazi's would've developed an atomic bomb."

Vanya's gaped, trying to imagine what would've happened.

"Would've won 'em the war. America would be an irradiated wasteland. Anyway, Cha-Cha and me were to stop this from happening. Thing is, guy was like, _severely _abused when he was younger, and he didn't really fit the standard scientist type. Dude was _buffed_. I mean, I've got a superhuman serum running in me, but Wolfgang, his first alter…"

Hazel shuddered.

"Cha-Cha was in a neck brace for a while after that, and we got hazard pay. Guy acted like a mouse, but the other guy was a psycho."

Vanya didn't know what she had. All she knew was that her mind was fucked.

"I-She-… I could do it." Vanya said quietly.

Hazel sighed. "So what's your plan? Raze the Academy while cackling?"

Vanya paused. "Do you know much about the criminal underworld?"

Hazel _looked_ at Vanya.

"Oh, right." She said sheepishly. "Well, um… I'm thinking of something more familiar."

Hazel groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Here I thought I was gonna be free of all this shit."

"I'm sorry." Vanya apologised.

"Don't be." Hazel grunted. "Might as well make it for something worthwhile. I'll go snooping, be ready to disappear when I say."

* * *

Five stabbed his knife into the table.

"Number Five?" Father called imperiously.

"I have a question." Five said.

"Knowledge is an admirable goal, but you-"

The klaxon blared suddenly, interrupting Father.

Father's nostrils flared.

"We'll discuss your behaviour another time, Number Five. For now, the Academy has a mission."

Quickly, the six of them piled out leaving Father alone at the table with seven barely touched plates.

* * *

"Bank robbery, _again_." Diego groaned.

"Called it!" Klaus called, as they took positions. "Maybe it's the ones from Weils?"

The local cops were having a bit of difficulty with a robbery some nights ago at a mall store. The place had been ransacked, clothes everywhere, money gone, all without tripping an alarm.

"Doesn't matter, get moving." Their Number One called from a ladder. Luther was already scaling the fire-escape to drop in from above.

_Like the ape he is, _Five snorted, following the others into sneaking in.

It was a relatively straight-forward mission.

Allison rumoured one of the robbers into shooting another (surprise) and Diego's knives ended up into one's chest (yet another shocker). Of course, just to shake things up, Luther came in from above and pummelled one. One strange thing was the masks they all wore – each a different animal.

Ben was sent down below to deal with the two goons in the vault, and it was only then things suddenly went off-script.

_Clap, clap, clap._

The noise rang out in the bank, and as one the four of them turned to find out which cocky wannabe criminal was next. Five paused after ensuring the fox-man was truly unconscious. Rabbit-man was bleeding out in the corner, as far as he knew. He turned.

It wasn't a man.

From the looks of it, it was a teenager, in a crisp, white suit and silver masquerade mask to boot.

"Sorry, we making you late to music class, girlie?" Diego called.

It was then that Five noticed the violin balanced in one arm.

"It's just, _splendid_ to meet the famed Umbrella Academy's finest."

Five paused. That voice… he was getting an uncanny valley effect from it.

"Klaus, I thought you rounded everybody up?!" Luther shouted, tying up his targeted would-be robber.

"There's something up with her voice." Five murmured to Allison, taking position beside her while Klaus argued with Luther. "I can't see a modulator either…"

"I'm more freaked by her eyes." Allison whispered back.

It was only now, Five noticed the irises were white. And glowing. Same with her hair.

"Five, I… I think she is…"

"Look, you best get with the rest of the group over there, okay?" Luther said, gesturing to the other hostages. "There's still a few-"

Suddenly, the girl drew her bow and began to play the violin.

_Huh, that sounds familiar…_

While Five was distracted by the sudden performance of Danse Macabre, he never noticed Luther's irritated scowl as he approached. The song started slow, but he could hear the tempo picking up.

"Look, just-"

As he reached to grab the girl, she slashed her bow at him when the song reached a crescendo and a flash of brilliant white energy sent Luther flying into the walls.

"Oh shit!" Klaus yelled, ducking behind a booth as the song's pace slowed.

The next slash was aimed at Allison, who likewise followed Klaus' lead by taking cover.

Five Jumped to the space beside them, ducking below and out of the girl's view.

"She's one of us!" Allison said, Five knew how wide her eyes were, even behind the domino mask.

"And I don't think she's a good one!" Klaus yelled over the sound of the music quickening.

"For fucks sake, Allison, just rumour her!" Five hissed.

Allison glared at him. "How am I supposed to get close?!"

A sudden blast above them that gouged the wall cut off Five's retort.

"Fuck, where's Ben?!" Klaus shouted.

"Is this what the famous Umbrella Academy really is?" Their assailant called, "Scared children, hiding? Come dears, step into _the _**light!**"

Peaking above, Five saw her slash again – this time, instead of energy, the booth he was hiding behind was uprooted and tossed to the side.

Cursing, he Jumped.

Right into the path of another slash of energy.

Five Jumped again, this time, he hit the ground running and dodged the follow-up.

"Luther get the hostages out of here!" Five called, trying to keep her attention on him.

Their foe was happy to allow the citizens to flee, instead choosing to focus on forcing Allison as far away as possible.

_She knows us,_ Five realised, ducking behind another booth to assess the area. _Our strengths._

Instead of fear, all he knew was excitement.

Then, Ben returned from the vault stairwell.

Diego's thrown knifes never made it close, instead were blasted off to the side by an unseen force. Was she telekinetic, was that her power?

Luther grabbed a rebar concrete slab and swung, letting it go at the height of the arc.

Just as the challenger split it in two to miss completely, Ben launched his assault.

The Violinist picked up the pace of her song, and the Monsters struck_ hard_.

Whatever field there was however, they just couldn't penetrate it. He could see the ripples as the Beings attempted to get through and tear their target limb from limb, but the tentacles were crushed and repelled. The unseen field buckled, but then renewed and held firm, pushing back.

The Violinst's laughter swelled with her song as the eldritch tentacles let loose an unearthly screech of frustration originating from Ben's chest.

None of them had ever seen someone go toe to toe with The Monsters.

_Now's the time!_

Five Jumped metres behind the challenger, and over the roar of the wind, Monsters and music, he was unheard. The strange barrier didn't seem to be a full circle, but he wasn't taking his chances teleporting on top of it or within, so he purposely Jumped a distance away.

Five charged.

Out of nowhere, he was grabbed from behind and _thrown _with superhuman strength.

Five Jumped just before he would've been a smear, and _why the fuck did Luther-_

There was a man with a bear mascot mask now with the player and Five cursed as he was joined by another, smaller man donning a grinning dog mask. He thought they had dealt with all the damn robbers.

Bear-man grabbed one of the money-loaded duffel bags with his left hand, and his right unloaded a carried pistol at Allison who had been trying to sneak around the side.

"Time to go!" Bear-man called mid-reload, moving to the back door they must've entered by.

The Violinist paused in her stalemate against Ben, and let loose a blast to the ceiling.

Ben reigned in the Monsters as fast as he could and leapt for cover to avoid being crushed.

A second, casual slash as she turned away forced Luther into a slide as he chased her down, unrelenting.

The Violinist seemed almost surprised as she had been in the middle of turning, and quickly brought her instrument back to bear; a panicked screech-note resulted in the remaining glass structures to shatter-

-A shot cracked through the air, striking Luther in the shoulder, dropping him.

"Luther!" Allison screamed out, breaking cover to run for him.

The Violinist paused, and whipped round. Dog-man had stuck around, his stupid mask grinning widely at his connected pot shot. He raised his gun again, this time pointed at Luther's head. Five prepared to Jump.

The Violinist swung her bow once in a wide arc, and the glass littering the area was gathered and launched into the robber.

The man was shredded into fine chunks of flesh before he could even scream, and Five felt a chill run down his neck.

_Thank fuck Luther didn't get close._

"I do like all your little titles, so_ ferocious._" Their foe called, walking away as the volume impossibly renovated across, pitch clear. "The Kraken, The Séance, and my personal favourite, The Horror. You may address me as… The White Violin."

Five didn't think chasing her down would be any use, he doubted he could fight her head on.

Making his decision, he Jumped twice.

First to the roof, where he could see Bear-man quickly leave via a fire escape door at the back of the bank into an alleyway with a parked car.

The second was a quick calculation that saw him drop from above, ready to snap his neck. He never expected the man to somehow anticipate this and bring both arms up to guard his head, dropping the duffel.

Five was unbalanced as he landed on his shoulders, and was grabbed and thrown down in one move.

A left hook was aimed at his chest mid-air, but Five retaliated with a swift kick before he hit the ground, _hard._

The man recoiled when Five's shoe met hit his head and the mask was kicked off, revealing a face twisted in a grimace. The punch glanced Five on the mouth as the man was thrown back.

_Bearded, brown hair, green eyes, six-four, No, five-_

He was lifted without warning, like invisible wires were curled against each limb.

Five was forcefully turned, and came face to face with The White Violin playing a gentle tune on her instrument.

She was… short.

"Hazel, be a dear, start the car."

"Basta'rd go' m'nose." 'Hazel' snarled, voice further muffled by the hand clutching the appendage.

"Yes, yes. I saw. I told you those donuts would make you sloppy. You know better than to underestimate Five."

The man grumbled, but walked away to the nondescript car waiting in the alley, pausing to collect his mask.

"So…" Five started. "How did you learn about your powers?"

White tilted her head.

"If you're trying to work out behind those clever blue eyes how long you need to keep me talking until the others come, I wouldn't bother, dear. The hall-way was caved in behind me."

Five cursed. White smiled, and leaned in close enough for him to smell the lavender shampoo she must use.

"We'll see each other again, Five." She whispered into his ear, her breath raising the hairs on his neck.

With that he was dropped to the side as The White Violin approached the car.

For one, harebrained moment, he thought to grab her, but all he would end up with would be a bullet, maybe in the head.

_If I'm lucky,_ Five mentally shuddered, remembering the dog-mask robber.

Instead, Five watched them leave, grimacing as the blanked plates would give him no further leads.

He didn't feel like exploring what the future might hold, now. The present just got more exciting.

* * *

"Shoddy performance." Father told them. "But, expected."

Luther glanced up from nearly burning hole into the carpet with his glare.

"Expected?" He repeated, confused.

Father nodded.

They were currently being debriefed in the foyer, not allowed the small pleasure of sitting whilst this happened. A small, petty punishment, Five found. Especially given Luther had been shot.

"You have been fighting ordinary people until now. This seems to be one of your rouge siblings. Turned to petty crime, of all things." Father harrumphed.

Five wasn't going to argue with that assessment to Father, but something just felt… off about it all.

The man, Hazel, he had only taken the one bag of the robber's gathered six as if it was an afterthought.

He also expected The White Violin to tell them to stay out of their (for those two were indeed a duo) way in future, but instead…

"_We'll see each other again, Five."_

"Well I, for one, am exhausted." Klaus said. "Seeing as I'm the one with useless powers, here-"

"There will be further training." Father announced suddenly. "This time, as a group, in teams. I will also have you looking into other applications of your powers, and any untapped potential."

Father glared down upon them all imperiously. "You were all outclassed today. I expect better. I expect you to hold your own."

Father about turned and marched off, muttering to himself.

Five saw Vanya hesitantly hiding near the stair banisters, waiting to come down and see them.

Father paused, looked up at Vanya, before taking the stairs. He stopped beside her and grabbed her shoulder. Something was said between them, and Vanya nodded. Father continued on after a brief pause, presumably on his way to the study.

Five ignored his squabbling family, and Jumped.

"What'd he say?" He drawled, re-appearing behind Vanya.

Vanya squeaked, and quickly spun, glaring at him.

"Don't- Don't do that!" She scolded weakly.

Five grinned.

"He… he just wanted to know if I was still taking my pills."

Five frowned.

"Huh. Wonder why."

What Five was really wondering was why Father never berated her for her disappearing act, but he reasoned she must've returned after they left and he _talked_ with her then.

Vanya was staring at him.

"What?" Five asked, self conscious.

"I-… your lip."

Five quickly brought a hand to his lip – it was still bleeding, fuck.

"Ah, yeah. One of the guys landed a punch." Five shrugged, brushing off the blood on his cuff. He felt his split lip leak a little more.

"Here, let me."

Vanya produced a handkerchief from her top pocket, and dabbed away at the cut.

"A little antiseptic," she murmured, "think there's some in the bathrooms. Wash it first, though. Hot, soapy water."

Five hesitantly brought his hand up to keep pressure on it, accidentally brushing against Vanya's fingers. She let go as if she'd been struck, eyes wide.

"Thanks." Five muttered, awkwardly holding the cloth.

"Just make sure you clean it."

_The cut, or the handkerchief, _Five wondered.

"Keep it." Vanya told him, as if she'd just read his mind. Five opened his mouth to make a comment to that effect, before stopping himself.

"Thank you." He said instead.

Vanya nodded, but she seemed to recede – she wasn't looking at him, but through him.

Five's stomach dropped. For a moment, he thought she was finally coming out of this second layer of the shell she had receded into.

Five gently placed a hand on her arm. Vanya startled.

"Roof tonight?" He asked.

Vanya's brow furrowed, before hesitantly nodding.

Five hesitated.

"Vanya. Where is it you disappear off to?"

Five didn't really understand which context he was asking, given there were times they'd be standing together like now where she was _elsewhere_ mentally and the times Vanya would elsewhere physically, not in the Academy.

"Nowhere. The grounds sometimes. The roof, mostly."

Five narrowed his eyes.

"I… don't think you've ever lied to me."

Vanya blinked up at him.

"Vanya, you were gone for a day. You disappeared last night."

She had been somewhere.

Vanya blushed. "I… I went to…"

Five frowned, just noticing something else in Vanya's top pocket.

"Are those-"

Vanya went to quickly clutch the thin strips of paper, but Five was quicker and plucked both out.

Five couldn't help but laugh.

"You snuck out last night to see _The Phantom of the Opera_?" He said, smirking.

He truly did not think she could go any redder, but lo and behold.

"The Icarus was showing it!" She answered defensively, arms crossed. "Plays don't exactly pass through the city often!"

Five snorted, but gave an acquiescing nod.

"And the fact you didn't get back until today?"

"Well, it was showing at eight. And curfew is at nine… So I just…"

Vanya mumbled something that Five didn't quite catch.

"Going to have to speak up, didn't hear that."

Vanya sighed. "I got a motel room. I didn't want to ruin the night coming back and being _scowled _at and lectured before bed."

Five blinked.

"I never took you to be so… _rebellious_."

"Yeah, well. Sometimes there's stuff I want to do."

Five nodded, thinking back to their conversation on the roof.

It was something he avoided thinking about; what did Vanya do in this lonely old house while they were off being crime fighters? He wouldn't begrudge her for finding something she enjoyed outside these cold walls.

* * *

Dear old Dad was suspicious already, Vanya knew.

As much as she loathed him, she couldn't deny his sheer intelligence. Few training sessions she had had when younger aside, she knew he was puzzling together the powers and instrument of choice.

She was relying on the one, overpowering weakness he bore, however.

His ego.

To conclude she was 'The White Violin' as the morning paper was already calling her, would mean acknowledging she had been training without him knowing to the extent she could take on her siblings, had somehow slipped into the plans of an attempted bank robbery, all the while maintaining the charade of Number Seven.

He would look at her differently, but there was nothing he could truly prove; besides admitting that she potentially outsmarted him, which he just couldn't do.

She cared not. Everything was had worked and was working out, so far – thanks mostly to Hazel.

The timing had been perfect; Five never had the chance to travel into the future, and would probably be sticking around. Vanya planned on carefully asking towards that on their rooftop meeting, and if the thought was still lingering, convince him against it if she could. But she knew Five, she knew he loved a puzzle and a challenge.

So she'd give him one.

She would be the villain the Umbrella Academy needed, she would see them to their true potential that the future that had been showed glimpses of. She would nurture them into true heroes, challenge them at every turn and bring out their powers. Then once they were ready…

'**The Commission will **_**burn**_**.'**


End file.
